IMSA: Taylor Corvette DP, RLL BMW on Monterey poles

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Saturday afternoon at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca provided some of the most exciting runs for pole position we've seen in 2015. Three of the four TUDOR United SportsCar Championship classes waged thrilling battles that went down to the final seconds, and in the contest to start first overall, Jordan Taylor pushed his Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP to a fast time of 1:18.718 to put a 0.222-second gap between himself and local legend Scott Pruett.

"I knew the car had potential to get the pole, so I knew if we didn't get it, it was going to be my fault, so I'm happy to get the job done," Taylor told RACER. "At a track like Laguna, you always want to be at the front because it's tough to pass. Track position is key."

Pruett's lap of 1:18.940 was a surprise after the team spent most of the three practice sessions prior to qualifying looking for ways to overcome the understeer that limited the No. 01 Ford EcoBoost DP's outright pace. Third went to VisitFlordia.com Racing's Michael Valiante (1:19.448) as the team continues to produce one of its most competitive weekends of the season.

Michael Shank Racing's John Pew recorded the fastest lap of the three P2 entries, and will start fourth thanks to his lap of 1:19.651.

GT Le Mans turned into an internecine duel between BMW Team RLL teammates. Lucas Luhr appeared to have the pole in hand with a 1:22.610 but his countryman Dirk Werner spoiled his celebration plans with a blistering lap of 1:22.362 as their session came to a close. Risi Competizione's Pierre Kaffer (1:22.610) will start third in the No. 62 Ferrari F458.

"When the car is so good, it's a lot of fun to be out there," said Werner. "A good handling car like the BMW is just the way to go."

Pole position in the PC class came down to the final lap, and when it was over, RSR Racing's Chris Cumming beat PRI/Mathiasen Motorsport's Mike Guasch by the smallest of margins—just 0.004 seconds. Performance Tech Racing's James French secured third.

"It actually wasn't my best, but it was enough to get pole," said Cumming.

Patrick Lindsey's success continued in GT Daytona qualifying as he put the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT America on pole with a stellar lap of 1:27.040. Marc Miller was almost one second arrears in his No. 93 Riley Technologies Dodge Viper (1:28.021), yet managed to hold off Dion von Moltke (1:28.031) in the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Audi R8 by only 0.010 seconds.

"I was really looking forward to getting a pole here," said Lindsey, a SoCal native. "The car's been amazing all week."

35 cars posted qualifying times and will take the start of the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix presented by Mazda Sunday at 1:05 p.m. PT.